


Promise

by vangirl



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, New Game Plus Challenge, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-02
Updated: 2010-04-02
Packaged: 2017-10-08 14:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vangirl/pseuds/vangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He feels need, strong uncontrollable need...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mitsuhachi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mitsuhachi/gifts).



> This was written for Mitsuhachi, as part of the challenge NewGamePlus on Dreamwidth.

He feels need, strong uncontrollable need. The kind that overrides all other thoughts, leaving him with only one word:

_Devour._

He must _devour_ and everything around him is there for that one singular purpose.

He can smell hot blood pulsing, hear a heartbeat quicken, and he lunges for it with his mouth open and ready to eat. eat. eat.

\---

Gale awakes as Gale, no longer Vayu. The taste of blood is still in his mouth, yet he knows he isn't sated.

Looking up, he sees Argilla looking back down at him. Before, he wouldn't know what to call the expression on her face but now he knows it is concern. Maybe something else, something he can't read.

Most importantly, her rifle is in her hands and trained on him.

The answer is already obvious but he still feels the need to ask; "What has happened?"

Argilla doesn't reply immediately, her expression remaining the same. "You attacked Heat," she finally says, her voice unexpectedly soft. "Sera's with him now. He'll probably be all right, you didn't hurt him too badly."

Gale is slow as he sits up, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Vayu is loud within him, still hungry. He too wishes to eat but there's an uncomfortable sensation in his stomach, something that feels heavy despite being empty. The word _nausea_ comes to mind, and he knows that's the word for it. Nausea, sickness, _disgust_. It makes little sense but he doesn't know what to do about it.

He ignores it.

"Has Serph ordered you to watch me, in case I attack someone else?"

Argilla points her rifle to the ground, a small distance away from him. It's still in her hands at the least, so he doesn't reprimand her for it. "I told him I'd do it." When he doesn't say anything, she adds, "I wanted to make sure you were okay. What happened was..." She trails off with a frown, as though she didn't have the words for it.

Another word comes to mind. "It was frightening for you?"

"Yes." She nods. "It was frightening to see you lose control like that."

Her reaction is understandable, logical. Any of them losing control of themselves posed a great risk to the Embryon as a whole. The unsettling nausea he feels doesn't seem like the only way he can describe how he feels at the possibility that he may once again lose control as Vayu. Frightening seems most accurate.

"Argilla," he starts, oddly finding it difficulty to even speak. "As things are now, I am a threat to the Embryon. If I lose control again-" His throat feels dry, though he doesn't know why. He swallows and the motion is difficulty as well. "It would be best for you to kill me."

Argilla opens her mouth and he expects her to protest. Instead, she shakes her head and gives him a harsh look. "I'll only do it if you... if you promise me something."

Gale only looks at her for a moment, considering. "What is this promise?"

"Don't give me a reason to kill you."

"I will not," he says without hesitation. It isn't a promise that he will be able to keep with certainty, but the heavy weight he feels in his gut seems to lighten as he says it.

She smiles at him, and though the action has nothing to do with temperature, it makes him feel warm. "Don't forget it."

Somehow, keeping that promise seems even more likely.


End file.
